


Find The One That's Real (This One)

by WildflowerWoods



Series: Cryptid Black Bulls [1]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Magic Knights Entrance Exam (Black Clover), Mentioned Black Bulls Squad (Black Clover)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28986594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildflowerWoods/pseuds/WildflowerWoods
Summary: The Black Bulls are a squad of cryptids. Nobody quite knows who the members are or where they'll turn up next. They always have their hoods up and refuse to talk unless they absolutely have to. As far the general population are concerned, they're little more than a rumour. There are whispers of a man a black robe roaming the land and collecting people hurt by the world. Quiet mutters of portals that open up out of nowhere, of threads and mirrors that snatch people up, of clouds of cotton that carry you away.Sometimes, during the magic knight entrance exam, a Black Bull or two will show up, faces shrouded in shadows and fight the examinees. Rarely, very very rarely, a portal will open up during the selection, to pass through it is to be accepted into the Black Bulls.The last thing Asta was actually expecting to see at his exam was the legendary captain of the mysterious Black Bulls. The Lord of Destruction, Yami Sukehiro himself.
Series: Cryptid Black Bulls [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126286
Comments: 27
Kudos: 107
Collections: IAmStoryteller's Best of Black Clover Fic Rec





	Find The One That's Real (This One)

**Author's Note:**

> I have absolutely no excuse for this other than the fact that I wanted the Black Bulls as cryptids.

_Granny Weatherwax looked out at the multilayered, silvery world._

_"Where am I?"_

_INSIDE THE MIRROR_

_"Am I dead?"_

_THE ANSWER TO THAT, said Death, IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN NO AND YES._

_Esme turned and a billion figures turned with her_

_"When can I get out?"_

_WHEN YOU FIND THE ONE THAT'S REAL._

_"Is this a trick question?"_

_NO._

_Granny looked down at herself._

_"This one," She said._

_\- Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad._

* * *

Yuno paused as the boy next to Asta started introducing the captains.

"That's Nozel Silva, the captain of the Silver Eagles." The eldest son and leader of House Silva, one of the three royal houses, and one of the more powerful captains. There was no denying that the man intimidated people simply by being in the vicinity. The woman stood behind him must be the elder of his two sisters, Nebra Silva.

"Fuegoleon Vermillion, captain of the Crimson Lion Kings." Eldest son of the second royal house, House Vermillion. Less intimidating than Nozel, but no less powerful. The boy around their age behind him had to be the youngest son of House Vermillion, Leopold Vermillion.

"Jack the Ripper, captain of the Green Praying Mantises." The commoner captain, proof that someone like Yuno could make it.

"Ms Charlotte Roselei, captain of the Blue Rose Knights." The cursed noble captain, said to be one of the most beautiful women in the land, a comment that made little sense. Surely it would be better to talk about the strength of a Magic Knight Captain, rather than her beauty?

"Gueldre Poizot, captain of the Purple Orcas." Apparently a shrewd businessman, captain of the largest Magic Knight squad.

"Dorothy Unsworth, captain of the Coral Peacocks." The Witch of the Magic Knights. As far as the general public were concerned, the captain of the Coral Peacocks was the only witch in the Magic Knights. And, considering that they rarely left their forest, it made sense. If there was another witch somewhere, she hadn't made herself known. The other thing that stood out about her was the fact that she was always asleep.

"Rill Boismortier, captain of the Aqua Deer." The youngest of the Magic Knight Captains at nineteen and the only known wielder of Painting Magic. He took over the Wizard King's old squad and renamed it from the Grey Deer to the Aqua Deer.

"Captain of the Golden Dawn, said to be the mightiest Magic Knight squad, William Vangeance." The squad Yuno was aiming for. It would most likely be the quickest path to becoming Wizard King, something he was determined to do before Asta.

As the captains sat down, Yuno turned his eyes to the ninth, empty seat. The seat for the captain of the mysterious Black Bulls, the Lord of Destruction, Yami Sukehiro. The hardest squad to get into. Unlike Asta, Yuno knew the Black Bulls weren't a bedtime story, they were a squad that, according to the rumours, kept themselves to themselves, rarely teamed up with another squad and never showed their faces. Said to be the worst squad, always coming in last at the Star Festival with negative stars. No wonder people thought they were a running joke within the Magic Knights.

The captain in question was most likely the man sitting near the top of the arena walls watching the exam, another mage perched next to him. It was highly unlikely that the captain had any intention of coming down until the exam was over. Still, if there was one person in the exam that year that would gain the mysterious captain's interest, it was most likely Yuno himself, or Asta and his sword.

"Attention Examinees!" Yuno's thoughts were interrupted by Captain Vangeance "Thank you for waiting." The captain pulled out his grimoire, muttering a spell.

Yuno looked up as a shadow started to cover the arena, a giant tree growing from nowhere and handing each examinee a broom.

"We shall now begin the magic knights entrance exam!" He announced, snapping his grimoire shut with a sharp clap of noise.

* * *

Yami had been watching from one of the ledges higher up the arena wall since the examinees started to arrive and, so far, a grand total of two candidates had caught his eyes. Which was about average, but the next stage, the spars, would tell him if it was worth sending Finral to get anyone for the Black Bulls test at the end of the exam.

The white-haired kid, the one that had been absolutely covered in anti-birds before the exam, couldn't fly on a broom and had failed to produce even a single spark of magic during any of the previous tests, was up first.

His opponent summoned some sort of shield orb with canons on it, surrounding himself in the creation magic.

"That's quite some magic for an examinee." Finral muttered from his spot next to Yami. Yami scoffed.

"It looks like that bug from the Mimo Amazon." He replied, though he had to admit that Finral had a point. The magic creation _was_ strong for an examinee, and might pose a bit of a challenge, but the seemingly magicless kid pulled- was that a sword? Yami blinked but the image didn't change. The apparently magicless kid had pulled a sword out of his grimoire. A proper, metal sword from the looks of things. Yami hadn't heard of a magic that could do that before.

A single strike from the sword kid split the bronze orb in half, incapacitating the caster in the same blow. The kid was fast, and strong. He hadn't used any magical enhancements. Interesting. And then the kid gave a small speech. What was it with examinees and their desire to make speeches about everything?

"So," Yami muttered to Finral as the next pair stepped forwards. A pair of nobles, well they were rarely worth watching. Sure, they were strong but they hardly ever brought anything new to the table, the one next to him being the only exception Yami had spotted thus far. Not that most nobles would claim him as one of theirs anymore. "the magicless kid wants to be the wizard king, huh?" To be able to cut through the magic with a single blow, there was more than just strength to it. Some kind of anti-magic? "We sure did get an odd duck this year."

"Wait, he did that without using any magic at all?" the Spatial Mage practically demanded, sounding incredulous. Yami had to wonder where his transportation had been when all the anti-birds were swarming the kid earlier. Probably thinking about trying to pick up a girl, the useless flirt. "I could have sworn you're the only person in Clover with that sort of physical strength, Yami. Just who is this kid?" As unobservant as Finral could be, he did have a point. It was rare for people, in Clover at least, to put actual work into strengthening their bodies when they could just use magic to pick something up or increase their speed. The kid was strange, and good against his fellow examinee. But it was one thing to fight against someone with a similar level of experience and another thing to fight against someone with far more.

"Go get some of the others," Yami ordered, not taking his eyes off the examinees as the four-leaf boy stepped forwards, some spoilt noble as his opponent. "We're going to need them."

"Luck and Magna?" Finral asked, standing up and pulling out his grimoire. Yami paused for a moment, considering. Luck the Cheery Berserker and Magna the Pyromaniac Delinquent. Well, they'd have fun at least. And it would be interesting to see the examinees' reaction to those two. Yami smirked.

"Magna and Luck." He confirmed. "You can stay down there and help too, if you want." Finral paused in front of the open portal, clearly thinking it over. Eventually, he shook his head.

"Nah. I wouldn't want to intrude on their fun." He replied, stepping through the portal and vanishing before Yami could reply. Once again, Finral had a point. Luck would be disappointed if Finral kept portalling his opponents away, the battle maniac. Cracking his knuckles, Yami stood up. Time to get a better look at the potential newbies then, before his idiot squad members turned up and the arena became a battleground.

* * *

William smiled as he noted the shadows in the arena shifting.

"So, Yami" He called to the shadowed figure lurking in the corner "a candidate caught your eye." His old friend only ever came down from his perch during the exam if there was someone he thought was worth recruiting. His Spatial Mage, Finral—the only one of Yami's group anyone really got to properly meet, and that was most likely only because he was the transport—was absent, a strange sight only ever seen during the exams, which could only mean that he'd got to get some more Black Bulls for Yami's test.

Though William didn't understand why Yami was so fond of staying mysterious—he could understand wanting to keep oneself mysterious but not a whole Magic Knight Squad—and randomly recruiting people he came across rather than using the exams, he had to admit that it came in useful at times, especially when faced with an enemy attack. The enemy cannot plan for something they don't know about, after all, and the Black Bulls were often dismissed as made up or a bedtime story for children within the Clover Kindom, never mind outside of it.

Spade, Diamond or even Heart wouldn't think anything of them, especially seeing as the majority of those that know of them describe them as the worst squad (William knew better. Yami had picked up on Julius' skill for spotting talent in unusual places. He highly doubted the Black Bulls were weak. Though, he couldn't deny that they were destructive).

"Two" the Lord of Destruction admitted, clearly making sure to stay in the shadows as he moved closer. All of the squad captains and their companions knew he was there—those that had never been before were warned beforehand about Yami and Finral lurking around the stadium to prevent misunderstandings—but the examinees' didn't—or usually didn't at any rate, Luck Voltia had managed to spot them during his exam and, if it wasn't for his demeanour, the lightning mage would have had an option other than the Black Bulls for that act alone—and Willaim was certain Yami wanted to keep it that way. "Pretty sure you've all got your eyes on one of them though."

"The boy with the four-leaf." Willaim guessed. Such power for a commoner, closer to the level of a royal rather than a noble, and one from the forsaken realm at that. Certainly one of the more powerful examinees that year, if not the most powerful. Willaim had an eye on that particular boy himself and he was sure at least Nozel and Fuegoleon did too. He wouldn't be surprised to hear that even Charlotte was considering accepting him into her all-female squad.

"Yes, him." Yami confirmed. "as for the other one, if his power's what I think it is, the Black Bulls are probably the best place for him to end up." Willaim didn't want to try and guess who the other examinee Yami was watching was—trying to figure out what was going on in Yami's head at any given moment in time was nearly always an exercise in futility outside of combat—though he suspected it was the magicless boy. His old friend always had tended towards the misfits, so much so that when asked to make a squad he designed it around collecting misfits.

"Langris said Finral got disowned," William stated, changing the conversation. Langris had been surprisingly upset about it all, seemingly more so over the fact that Finral didn't even try to fight it than the fact that his brother actually got disowned. "How's your portal mage holding up?" Yami sighed.

"He's been a bit quieter than usual." He admitted, trying and failing to act like he wasn't concerned. "Less of a reaction than I expected, but I think they both saw it coming. House Vaude never did like Finral's type of spatial magic." As if summoned by his captain saying his name, a portal opened up down on the arena floor in front fo the examinees, three hooded figures stepping through. Willaim smiled, standing up as Yami faded back into the shadows.

"It appears that there are some among you that the Black Bulls wish to recruit. This is their test. How well can you hold out against a group of unknown Magic Knights?" He sat back down, letting Fuegoleon take over.

"Teamwork is allowed. Doing any serious or permanent damage to the Black Bulls is not. They are not allowed to do any serious or permanent damage to you either. If you wish to tap out of the fight, please move to the edges of the arena and sit on the floor. The fight will end either when you have all left the fight or the Black Bulls captain decides that he's seen enough."

* * *

Luck was bouncing on the balls of his feet as Finral opened the portal, clearly as eager to start fighting as he always was. There were times when Finral wondered how he was the only sane one in the squad. Never mind that if he actually voiced that thought pretty much everyone would point out something he'd done that was definitely _not_ sane. He was still saner than the rest of them damnit (Finral conveniently ignored the small voice in the back of his mind that sounded like Langris pointing out the insane things he'd done that even the Black Bulls wouldn't consider doing).

Magna was a lot calmer, though obviously just as ready to beat up a load of potential Magic Knights as Luck was. Though he'd been the one to suggest bringing these two, Finral still wasn't happy about the fact that he'd had to interrupt on of their daily—sometimes multiple times a day—arguments that were nearly always started by Luck stealing and eating Magna's food. Finral had wondered when they'd started how long it'd take Magna to figure it out that Luck was doing it deliberately to get a reaction. Apparently, the answer was 'at least a year'. Once again, his squad was full of idiots.

He stopped to check that the other two both had their hoods up—Luck often went without his when he thought he could get away with it and Magna had a habit of 'accidentally' setting his on fire—before opening a portal. It was getting late, they should be finishing up the spars soon.

Magna and Luck were right behind him as he stepped through, one on either side, fire and lighting cracking in their hands respectively.

The examinees jumped back at the sight of them, one even screamed, as a gasp rippled through the crowd. Finral couldn't help it, he smiled. This part was always fun, even if he didn't join in, and it always helped ramp up their reputation of mysterious maniacs, which meant less people tried to attack them. Less people attacking them was always a good thing.

Interestingly enough, the two examinees Yami had been watching earlier didn't flinch back, the four-leaf boy actually going as far as to glare at them with narrowed eyes. Well, that was new. Finral was going to get out of there before he got caught up in the fight. Getting caught in a fight with Luck and Magna nearly always ended up with someone, usually not them, getting hurt.

He hopped back through a portal, appearing at Yami's side on the captain's balcony just in time to watch the ~~massacre~~ _fight._

"They're more energetic than usual." Yami muttered, watching Luck dart around the arena, playing with the examinees like a cat plays with a mouse.

"Luck stole Magna's flan and I interrupted before they could settle it." Finral replied as Magna started waving his fire bat around. Hopefully, Magna knew better than to aim towards the captains.

In all honesty, they were fighting each other more than the examinees, their usual back and forth that they always did at the hideout, but with more people caught in the middle. Occasionally one of them would aim an attack at a particularly brave examinee, but overall they ignored them. Finral sighed. He really should have told Gauche the examinees wanted his sister or something. At least then he'd be fighting the people he'd been brought to fight.

A few well-timed portals, a fireball hitting an examinee and _finally_ the fight started in earnest. it, unsurprisingly, very quickly turned into a free for all, Luck and Magna in the middle of it all laughing like the lunatics they were.

"I've seen enough" Yami stated after about half the examinees had dropped out. Finral nodded, quickly opening a portal back to the hideout under Luck and Magna, enjoying the shouts of surprise both let out before they vanished. Hopefully, they'd have calmed down enough by the end of the exam that they didn't kill him for it.

"And that concludes the Magic Knight Entrance Exam!" Captain Vangeance announced. "When your number is called, please step forward to learn your results." He sat down again as Captain Roselei stood up.

"If a captain wants you on his or her squad, they will raise a hand. That means you're in. If you do not wish to join a squad, you may, of course, decline. If you are admitted into more than one squad, it is up to you to decide which you will join."

"However, if no squad wants you, you will not be a Magic Knight." Fuegoleon continued where she left off.

"In which case, you must leave at once." Captain Silva finished.

"Yes?" Captain Vangeance asked as an examinee put their hand up.

"What about the Black Bulls?" All of the captains glanced back at Finral.

"Should you be accepted into the Black Bulls, you will know. Their captain may not be showing himself but, as you have seen, he has his own ways of making his wishes known."

* * *

"Number one sixty four." The announcer called. Asta watched with bated breath as Yuno stepped forwards.

Slowly the hands went up, one after another until all eight captains had lifted them.

"Eight of the nine squads" someone whispered, mutters flying through the assembled examinees, only to be silenced by magic swirling to life.

A portal, just like the ones used by the Black Bulls opened up in front of Yuno.

"That- that has to be the Black Bulls."

"Examinee Number one sixty four. Please chose which squad you would like to join, all nine are an option."

"It would be an honour to join the Golden Dawn."

* * *

"It's no real surprise is it?" Yami smirked as the examinees look around with wide eyes at the sound of his voice, all of them clearly trying to work out where it was coming from.

"Yami" Finral hissed, clearly annoyed that Yami was completely ignoring his own rules about staying hidden. Well, Finral was the one that had to follow the rules, not Yami.

"No matter how good you may be in battle, nobody really wants to touch a power that mysterious." Finral sighed as Yami emerged into the light for the first time since arriving. He could hear the shocked murmurs run through the crowd as the Black Bulls captain finally showed himself. "most people aren't all that fond of the unknown." Yami knew that from experience. A lone kid with magic rarely seen in the Clover Kingdom washing up from a far off shore? Nobody wanted anything to do with him. "It boils down to this:" Yami ignored Finral's muttering as he jumped up onto the railing. "What these captains are looking for is _magic_ power. That simple" He stated, summoning his own magic and watching the examinees stumble around from the sheer amount of power in the air.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Finral demanded as Yami jumped down into the arena. He ignored the spatial mage. Finral wasn't the captain, he didn't make the rules and he certainly wasn't in charge. The examinees scrambled back as he walked towards the kid, clearly terrified. But the kid didn't flinch, he just grit his teeth and stood his ground. Interesting.

"What would anyone want with you?" He demanded "a kid with zero magic." the boy scowled at the words, clearly used to the insult. "You might as well face the facts. What you said before. That you took the exam 'cause you wanna become the Wizard King. You get what that means, right?" This kid had to know what he was getting into. "If that's really your goal, you're gonna have to prove that you're better than all nine Magic Knight captains. And now, standing here magicless and pathetic, can you really say you have what it takes? That you're strong enough to be the Wizard King?" To Yami's surprise, the kid didn't back down. Instead, he clenched his fists and stood his ground. He wasn't going to give up at the first sign of resistance. Good.

"Yeah, fine." The kid practically spat. "So, maybe I won't get to join a Magic Knight squad today. But no matter what anyone says, and no matter how many times I might stumble, I won't give up! I will become the Wizard King!" Absolutely no power and yet he was still determined to be the wizard king. This kid. Yami couldn't help it, he laughed.

"You know kid, I like you." He could already hear Finral groaning and complaining about how that wasn't the way to do it, but opening a portal in front of an examinee wasn't really the way to do it either. Finral should have learnt by now that Yami rarely followed proper procedure for things. After all, he'd recruited Gauche and the man was a former convict. "Come join our crew."

"Wha-" The kid stared at him, mouth open in shock. This kid. Worked so hard to get into the Magic Knights and then just stood there like an idiot when he got offered a place. Eh, the rest of his idiots would have fun.

"Quit gapin' like a fish. I'm sayin' I'll let ya into the Black Bulls. By the way, you don't get to say no, got it?" Finral was definitely going to complain about not following the proper procedure but Yami didn't care. Finral was always whining about something, usually the fact that the hoods made it hard to get dates. Which was part of the point. He was a magic knight to save people, not to get dates.

"What...?" The kid repeated, starting to sound a bit like a broken record.

"And it won't be a picnic. We're gonna put you through the wringer till you don't recognize yourself. So get ready."

"What?!" jeez, if he didn't know better he'd suspect that the only word this kid knew was 'what'.

"And then, once we're done, you go and become the Wizard King." This kid was strange, had absolutely no magic and a grimoire that held a sword and apparently nothing else. He was _exactly_ the sort of person Julius would have recruited back in the day.

"Right!" The kid cheered, punching the air.

"Finral!" Yami yelled, smirking as his exasperated spatial mage jumped over the railings to land a bit behind them, far lighter than Yami had been. Then again, Finral was a hell of a lot lighter than Yami. "We're going."

"You aren't going to wait for the rest of the examinees to be called?" Finral asked. Yami knew what he was doing. The coward was trying to avoid the fallout of interrupting Magna and Luck in the middle of a fight. That wasn't going to work, the longer he waited the more annoyed the two would be.

"Why should I? There's nobody else here worth recruiting." Finral sighed, opening a portal. "Cheer up, they're not going to kill you for interrupting the fight." Yami ruffled Finral's hair as he shoved the new kid through.

"They'll try" Finral muttered, the portal closing behind them.


End file.
